LeBron James Says He Lost Respect For Phil Jackson

King James reacts to Jackson referring to him and his business partners as a "posse."

LeBron James says he lost respect for Phil Jackson, after the 71-year-old former NBA coach referred to him and his business partners as a “posse.”

Jackson made the comments in a newly-published ESPN interview, which included his thoughts on James leaving the Miami Heat for the Cleveland Cavs.

"It had to hurt when they lost LeBron," said Jackson. "That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland, and he wanted to spend the night. They don't do overnights. Teams just don't. So now [coach Erik] Spoelstra has to text [coach Pat] Riley and say, 'What do I do in this situation?' And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, 'You are on the plane. You are with this team.' You can't hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland.”

In his response, James noted that he had “zero” ties to Jackson, but admired him for coaching the Chicago Bulls during the Michael Jordan’s era. That said, he’s not happy with Jackson’s "posse" comments.

"I've been in the league for 14 years and from the beginning two years in, I felt like I wanted to put my guys in positions of power, give those guys an opportunity to better themselves," James said Tuesday (Nov. 15). “You know, in the beginning we were highly criticized and I was highly criticized about what I wanted to do to help some guys around me become very successful in business.

"It just sucks that now at this point having one of the biggest businesses you can have both on and off the floor, having a certified agent in Rich Paul, having a certified business partner in Maverick Carter that's done so many great business [deals], that the title for young African-Americans is the word 'posse,'" he continued.

“If you go and read the definition of what the word 'posse' is, it's not what I've built over my career," James added. "It's not what I stand for, it's not what my family stands for. I believe the only reason he used that word is because he sees young African-Americans trying to make a difference."

Carter had similar feelings, telling ESPN that he took “offense” to Jackson’s characterization.

“If he would have said LeBron and his agent, LeBron and his business partners or LeBron and his friends, that's one thing," explained Carter. "Yet because you're young and black, he can use that word. We're grown men."

Peep some of the Twitter reactions to Jackson's "posse" debacle below.

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Greenberg then went on to ask if the 20-year vet has any advice to offer James, who joined the legendary franchise in 2018. "Oh, you just got to keep pushing," Bryant said honestly. "Seasons like this are what make the championships worth it."

Much like James' experience with the Lakers, Bryant missed the 2005 playoffs after losing to the Detroit Pistons in the Finals the year before. Injuries and fluctuating rosters caused them to lack focus. However, the Lakers did make their way back into the playoffs that following year.

Professional tennis' number one champ Naomi Osaka is seeking to ace an opponent in the court of law. According to TMZ, the 21-year-old athlete is being sued by her former coach, Christophe Jean, who claims he's entitled to 20 percent of Osaka and her sister, Mari's career winnings "and endorsement deals forever." The website states $2 million is the figure in contention.

Jean states he signed an agreement with the sisters' father, Leonard Francois, in March 2012 after the latter reportedly swapped out unaffordable coaching payments for a contract that would put the aforementioned percentage of money as it pertains to tennis into Jean's account indefinitely.

In a statement on the matter, Osaka's attorney Alex Spiro claims this lawsuit holds no weight. "While it comes as no surprise that Naomi's meteoric rise as an international icon and inspiration would lead to some false claim, this silly, imaginary contract that Naomi never saw or signed—which purports to give away part of herself at the age of 14—is particularly absurd," Spiro said as noted by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller had a few choice words for fan Shane Keisel after the latter reportedly threw racist remarks at Russell Westbrook following a Monday night game (March 11).

"I am extremely disappointed that one of our quote 'fans' conducted himself in such a way to offend not only a guest in our arena but also me personally, my family, our organization, the community, our players and you, as the best fans in the NBA," Miller said, per ESPN, to the crowd of Jazz fans before the team faced off against the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night (March 14).

Within the speech, Miller emphasized how the behavior displayed by Keisel was unacceptable and called for "the best fans in the NBA" to report, in the future, if they saw similar conduct again.

"This should never happen," Miller said. "We are not a racist community. We believe in treating people with courtesy and respect as human beings. From time to time, individual fans exhibit poor behavior and forget their manners and disrespect players on other teams."

"When that happens, I want you to jump up and shout 'stop.' We have a code of conduct in this arena. It will be strictly enforced," the 76-year-old businesswoman continued.

This speech was spawned after Westbrook reported that the Jazz fan had told him to "get on your knees like you're used to." The point guard found the comment to be "completely disrespectful" and "racial." Following the discourse between the two, Westbrook was fined $25,000 by the NBA and Keisel was banned for life from Jazz games.

"Other teams are not our enemies. They are our competition. Competition is a good thing. It allows players to showcase their talents, and it allows fans to encourage, appreciate, cheer for and enjoy those who share their talents with us," Miller said.

Season-ticket holders of the Jazz were warned, via email, that their tickets can be revoked if they are to take the same steps as Keisel. In another email, Miller denounced hate speech and racism amongst other things as well as informing the fans that "violators may be subject to ejection and other penalties, including a lifetime ban."